I’m thrilled to announce that in honor of my “Kick Ass” contest I’ve gathered some of my “Kick Ass” blogger friends and have asked them to write a guest post. Each of these mild mannered bloggers were given the task to write a post that had to do with either superheroes or comic books. You are in for a treat as these “Super-bloggers“, are well known in the blogginng world, each one has the gift of being a great writer who can make you laugh or bring a tear to your eyes and a lump to your throat by their written words. Although each piece has a different feel to it, they all share one thing - they are all great. I feel proud and honored that this bunch of people have accepted my humble request.

To start this “KIck Ass” contest we have Doug from The Boomer Musing. When I thought of doing this contest and having guest posts, Doug was one of the first bloggers that came to mind. No matter what you find on his blog you know it’s going to be good and a lot of times thought provoking.

There’s something about Douglas that I can’t explain, he gives me a feeling that he’s a lot like that one cool uncle in the family - you know, the one who will sit on the floor with you and listen patiently as you go through your box of comics explaining the origins of each superhero.

I’m proud to have him start this “Kick Ass” giveaway. Thank you Doug

"What do tigers dream of, when they take a little tiger snooze. Do they dream of mauling zebras, or Halle Berry in her cat woman suit…”

Comic books were a major part of my life as a child. I practically learned to read because of them and through them. I started with comic strips, of course. Listening to the radio where, each Sunday morning, some voices on the radio acted them out while I followed the pictures in the colorful "Funny Papers" of the Sunday newspaper. Yeah, I am that old. My family had not yet bought a TV because they were luxuries at the end of the 1940's and we couldn't afford luxuries. And radio was still full of shows, having not yet devolved into just music and DJ's, that were to eventually end up on TV.

When I went to school in the first grade, they began to teach us to read. I was excited about that because I wanted to read very badly. I didn't want to depend on someone else to tell me what the words in the balloons above the heads of the characters in the funny papers and comic books were. I wanted to be able to sit alone somewhere and read them for myself.

But school didn't give me much to read.

"See Dick."
"See Jane."
"See Dick and Jane."

Yadda-yadda-yadda.

Yeah, not exactly riveting prose.

I was already getting involved in Superman and Batman at home. I knew they didn't talk like that or just do things like run around in the yard with a dog. They flew and jumped and battled bad guys. They had adventures! And I wanted to read about them, become involved with them. When you are 5 or 6, you have a purity of imagination. You believe these things.

It seemed like it took me ages back then to build enough of a vocabulary to really understand what I was reading. But I did. And I read every comic book I could get my hands on. D.C. Comics were, hands down, the best. I found out about Krypton, and Smallville, and Metropolis, and The Daily Planet. Also about Gotham City, and Bruce Wayne and his ward (and what a "ward" was). I also learned about imaginary places where people could fly and do amazing stunts and always win out in the end. Very different than my personal reality.

My favorite place in all the world during those years was the closet in my Uncle Eddie's bedroom. The closet was on the second floor of a townhouse in Queens, New York. It was a magical place. In that closet, you see, was a big stack of comic books. Not just ones with Superman and Batman and Aquaman but horror comics and Mad comics (which became Mad Magazine). This was a whole new world to me. A darker one and utterly fascinating. A journey into the mind as well as for the mind.

I also found, around that time, a series of comic books called Classics Illustrated. These were renditions of classic books and stories laid out in comic book format. They were part of my moving away from comic books to regular books; un-illustrated books where I had to use my imagination to draw the pictures that the words described.

By the time I was in my early teens, I had wandered away from my love of comic books and moved into traditional books. And began a love of the written word which has sustained me all my life.

I owe it all to comic books.